Service aware admission control for IoT applications

ABSTRACT

A network device may receive a request to connect to a network from a user equipment device and perform a first admission control procedure to determine whether to temporarily allow the user equipment device to connect to the network. The network device may receive information identifying a slice associated with the user equipment device in response to determining to temporarily allow the user equipment device to connect to the network. The network device may perform a second admission control procedure to determine whether to allow the user equipment device to connect to the network. The second admission control procedure is based on the slice associated with the user equipment device. The network device may allocate network resources to the user equipment device in response to determining to allow the user equipment device to connect to the network.

BACKGROUND

Admission control is performed when a device requests to join a networkto ensure that network resources are sufficient before the newconnection to the network is established. In some situations, it may beimportant to differentiate between different priorities associated withInternet of Things (IoT) devices when performing admission control. Itmay be necessary to differentiate types of IoT devices when performingadmission control when sharing radio resources.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an environment according to animplementation described herein;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a network environment illustrating exemplarycomponents of the environment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of a device thatmay correspond to one or more of the devices illustrated and describedherein;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process for applyingadmission control at a wireless station, according to implementationsdescribed herein;

FIG. 5 is a signal flow diagram illustrating exemplary communicationsamong devices in a portion of the network environment of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the sameor similar elements. Also, the following detailed description does notlimit the invention.

Wireless access networks are traditionally designed to support mobiledevices, such as smart phones, however, an increasing number of IoTapplications have led to a growing number of IoT devices employingmachine-to-machine (M2M) communication, such as Machine-TypeCommunication (MTC). An IoT device may be configured to communicate withother devices without requiring explicit user interaction. IoT devicesmay have a wide variety of uses, ranging from stationary uses such asutility meters, environmental sensors, parking meters and/or occupancysensors, security sensors, smart lighting, traffic cameras, advertisingdisplays, point-of-sale terminals, vending machines, remote diagnosticsdevices, power grid sensors and/or management devices, to high speedautonomous vehicles and aerial drones.

Uses of IoT devices are envisioned to increase exponentially and mayresult in a large number of such devices being serviced by a wirelessaccess network. If too many IoT devices are accessing the wirelessaccess network at the same time, the amount of signaling traffic may beas large as or greater than the amount of data traffic. To avoidcongestion, some IoT devices may be rejected before connecting to thewireless access network. In implementations described herein, criticalIoT devices may be differentiated from enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB)devices and massive IoT devices while sharing radio resources.

Using network slicing, a physical network may be sectioned (or “sliced”)into multiple, virtual, end-to-end networks. Each network slice may bededicated for different types of services with different characteristicsand requirements (e.g., latency, voice, jitter, bandwidth, pricing,etc.). As used herein, the term “slice” or “network slice” refers to acomplete logical network including a Radio Access Network (RAN) and CoreNetwork that provides certain telecommunication services and networkcapabilities that can vary from slice to slice. Selection of networkslices can, thus, have significant impact on network performance anduser experience.

In some instances, user devices may be configured to use a particularnetwork slice upon connection to a network (e.g., a Fifth Generation(5G) network). The network slice may be associated with a particularquality of service (QoS) flow. For example, an IoT device may bedesignated with a particular slice ID that matches network slicecharacteristics to the type of traffic generated by the IoT device.Additionally, a slice or QoS flow may be identified by otheridentifiers, such as Public Land Mobile Network Identifier (PLMN ID),Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI), a ServiceProfile Identifier (SPID), Radio Resource Control (RRC) establishmentcause, QoS Class Identifier (QCI), Fifth Generation (5G) QoS Identifier(5QI), and/or additional identifiers.

Admission control is a validation process in which an RRC connectioncheck is performed before a connection between a user device and anetwork is established to see if current resources are sufficient forthe connection. Systems and methods described herein may provide serviceaware admission and congestion control for IoT services. In oneimplementation, the admission and congestion control may be based onnetwork analytics and historical trends associated with the network.Implementations described herein may place restrictions on the number ofuser devices and/or RRC connections allowed per slice or QoS flow. Inone implementation, the IoT services for different short burst traffic,such as firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updates and critical IoT traffic,may be different per slice or QoS flow. Additionally, the user plane andcontrol plane IoT services may be different per slice or QoS flow.

Systems and methods described herein may reject user devices or deny auser device's request for connection to a network for a period of timewith varying extended waiting times for different slices or QoS flows.In one implementation, a critical IoT device (e.g., a security device, amedical device, etc.) may have a higher admission rate and lower waitingtime after rejection than a non-critical IoT device. In addition,systems and methods described herein may provide for access barring on aper slice or QoS flow basis. In one implementation, access barringthresholds may be based on load level or excessive connection failuresfor a slice or QoS flow.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating concepts described herein. As shown inFIG. 1, an environment 100 may include one or more user equipment (UE)devices 110, an access network 120, one or more wireless stations 130,and a provider network 140. Each UE device 110 may connect to accessprovider network 140 via access network 120 using one of multipleavailable network slices 150 (e.g., slice 150-1, 150-2, etc.).

UE device 110 may include a wireless MTC device that communicateswirelessly with other devices over a M2M interface; a handheld wirelesscommunication device; a wearable computer device (e.g., a head-mounteddisplay computer device, a head-mounted camera device, a wristwatchcomputer device, etc.); a global positioning system (GPS) device; amedia playing device; a portable gaming system; a laptop, tablet, oranother type of portable computer; a smartphone; and/or any other typeof computer device with wireless communication capabilities. UE device110 may be used for voice communication, mobile broadband services(e.g., video streaming, real-time gaming, premium Internet access etc.),best-effort data traffic, and/or other types of applications.

According to exemplary implementations described herein, UE device 110may be configured to use one or more applications or services that areoptimally supported by a specific type of network slice 150. Forexample, UE device 110 may be provisioned with a network slice selectionidentifier (NSSID) that can be provided by the UE during an initialregistration procedure. The NSSID may indicate, for example, aparticular network slice that is optimally configured for a type oftraffic initiated/required by UE device 110, traffic such as massive IoTdata, video streaming, designated emergency data, etc.

Access network 120 may provide access to provider network 140 forwireless devices, such as UE device 110. Access network 120 may enableUE device 110 to connect to provider network 140 for Internet access,non-Internet Protocol (IP) data delivery, cloud computing, mobiletelephone service, Short Message Service (SMS) message service,Multimedia Message Service (MMS) message service, and/or other types ofdata services. Access network 120 may include wireless stations 130, andUE devices 110 may wirelessly communicate with access network 120 viawireless station 130. Access network 120 may establish a packet datanetwork connection between UE device 110 and provider network 140 viaone or more Access Point Names (APNs). For example, wireless accessnetwork 120 may establish an Internet Protocol (IP) connection betweenUE device 110 and provider network 140. In another implementation,access network may provide access to a service or application layernetwork, a cloud network, a multi-access edge computing (MEC) network, afog network, and so forth. Furthermore, access network 120 may enable aserver device to exchange data with UE device 110 using a non-IP datadelivery method such as Data over Non-Access Stratum (DoNAS).

Access network 120 may include a 5G access network or another advancednetwork that supports network slicing. Additionally access network mayinclude functionality such as a mm-wave Radio Access Network (RAN);advanced or massive multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO)configurations (e.g., an 8×8 antenna configuration, a 16×16 antennaconfiguration, a 256×256 antenna configuration, etc.); cooperative MIMO(CO-MIMO); carrier aggregation; relay stations; Heterogeneous Networks(HetNets) of overlapping small cells and macrocells; Self-OrganizingNetwork (SON) functionality; MTC functionality, such as 1.4 MHz wideenhanced MTC (eMTC) channels (also referred to as category Cat-M1), LowPower Wide Area (LPWA) technology such as Narrow Band (NB) IoT (NB-IoT)technology, and/or other types of MTC technology; and/or other types of5G functionality.

Wireless station 130 may include a gNodeB base station device and/or aneNodeB base station device that includes one or more devices (e.g.,wireless transceivers) and other components and functionality that allowUE device 110 to wirelessly connect to access network 120. Wirelessstation 130 may correspond to a macrocell or to a small cell (e.g., afemtocell, a picocell, a microcell, etc.). In other implementations,wireless station 130 may include another type of base station foranother type of wireless network that supports network slicing. Wirelessstation 130 may include or be associated with one or more network slices150. According to implementations described herein, wireless station 130may apply slice-based admission controls. Wireless stations 130 mayconnect to provider network 140 via backhaul links 170.

Provider network 140 may include a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), an optical network, acable television network, a satellite network, a wireless network (e.g.,a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network, a general packet radioservice (GPRS) network, and/or an LTE network), an ad hoc network, atelephone network (e.g., the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) ora cellular network), an intranet, or a combination of networks. In oneimplementation, provider network 140 may allow the delivery of InternetProtocol (IP) services to UE device 110, and may interface with otherexternal networks, such as private IP networks.

According to one implementation, provider network 140 may include a corenetwork for one or multiple access networks 120. For example, providernetwork 140 may include the core part of a 5G New Radio network, etc.Depending on the implementation, provider network 140 may includevarious network elements 145, such as a gateway, a support node, aserving node, a router, a switch, a bridge, as well as other networkelements pertaining to various network-related functions, such asbilling, security, authentication and authorization, network polices,subscriber profiles, etc. In some implementations, provider network 140may include an Internet Protocol Multimedia Sub-system (IMS) network(not shown in FIG. 1). An IMS network may include a network fordelivering IP multimedia services and may provide media flows between UEdevice 110 and external IP networks (not shown in FIG. 1).

Network slices 150 may be configured with different characteristics tosupport different types of applications and/or services, such as videostreaming, massive IoT traffic, autonomous driving, etc. According toimplementations described herein, UE device 110 may be configured with adefault network slice 150 that may be structured for the type of networktraffic initiated by UE device 110 (e.g., with particularcharacteristics for latency, bandwidth, jitter, etc.). According toimplementations described further herein, each wireless station 130 maystore in memory (e.g., locally or remotely) a table of available networkslices supported through the wireless station 130 with current statusfor each network slice. Wireless station 130 may apply admissioncontrols to incoming service requests to admit, block, delay or redirectthe requesting UE device depending on slice congestion levels and otherfactors.

Although FIG. 1 shows exemplary components of environment 100, in otherimplementations, environment 100 may include fewer components, differentcomponents, differently arranged components, or additional functionalcomponents than depicted in FIG. 1. For example, in one implementation,environment 100 may include an MEC network that provides applicationsand services at the edge of a network, such as provider network 140.Additionally or alternatively, one or more components of environment 100may perform functions described as being performed by one or more othercomponents of environment 100.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a network environment 200 that includesexemplary components of environment 100 according to an implementationdescribed herein. As shown in FIG. 2, network environment 200 mayinclude UE device 110, wireless station 130, a core network 215, and anIP network 230. Core network 215 and IP network 230 may correspond to,or be included in, provider network 140.

Core network 215 may include an Access and Mobility Management Function(AMF) 220, a User Plane Function (UPF) 230, a Session ManagementFunction (SMF) 240, an Application Function (AF) 250, a Unified DataManagement (UDM) 252, a Policy Control Function (PCF) 254, a NetworkRepository Function (NRF) 256, a Network Exposure Function (NEF) 258,and a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) 260. AMF 220, UPF 230, SMF240, AF 250, UDM 252, PCF 254, NRF 256, NEF 258, and NSSF 260 maycorrespond to network elements 145 of FIG. 1 and may each be implementedas separate network devices or as nodes shared among one or more networkdevices. While FIG. 2 depicts a single AMF 220, UPF 230, SMF 240, AF250, UDM 252, PCF 254, NRF 256, NEF 258, and NSSF 260 for illustrationpurposes, in practice, FIG. 2 may include multiple wireless stations130, AMFs 220, UPFs 230, SMFs 240, AFs 250, UDMs 252, PCFs 254, NRFs256, NEFs 258, and/or NSSFs 260.

Wireless station 130 may include one or more devices and othercomponents and functionality that enable UE device 110 to wirelesslyconnect to access network 120 using 5G Radio Access Technology (RAT).Wireless station 130 may include, for example, a gNodeB (gNB) with awireless transceiver with an antenna array configured for mm-wavewireless communication. In other implementation, wireless station 130may include another type of base station that supports network slicing.Wireless station 130 may communicate with AMF 220 using an N2 interface222 and communicate with UPF using an N3 interface 232. According toimplementations described herein, wireless station 130 may receive andstore network slice data which may be used for applying intelligentadmission control during an initial attachment process for UE device110.

AMF 220 may perform registration management, connection management,reachability management, mobility management, lawful intercepts, ShortMessage Service (SMS) transport between UE device 110 and an SMSfunction (not shown in FIG. 2), session management messages transportbetween UE device 110 and SMF 240, access authentication andauthorization, location services management, functionality to supportnon-3GPP access networks, and/or other types of management processes.AMF 220 may be accessible by other function nodes via a Namf interface224. In one implementation, AMF 220 may have multiple instances, whereeach AMF instance is associated with a particular network slice (e.g.,network slice 150). According to implementations described herein, anAMF 220 may receive and forward network slice status information towireless station 130.

UPF 230 may maintain an anchor point for intra/inter-RAT mobility,maintain an external Packet Data Unit (PDU) point of interconnect to adata network (e.g., IP network 230, etc.), perform packet routing andforwarding, perform the user plane part of policy rule enforcement,perform packet inspection, perform lawful intercept, perform trafficusage reporting, perform QoS handling in the user plane, perform uplinktraffic verification, perform transport level packet marking, performdownlink packet buffering, send and forward an “end marker” to a RadioAccess Network (RAN) node (e.g., wireless station 130), and/or performother types of user plane processes. UPF 230 may communicate with SMF240 using an N4 interface 234 and connect to IP network 201 using an N6interface 236.

SMF 240 may perform session establishment, modification, and/or release,perform IP address allocation and management, perform Dynamic HostConfiguration Protocol (DHCP) functions, perform selection and controlof UPF 230, configure traffic steering at UPF 230 to guide traffic tothe correct destination, terminate interfaces toward PCF 254, performlawful intercepts, charge data collection, support charging interfaces,control and coordinate charging data collection, termination of sessionmanagement parts of NAS messages, perform downlink data notification,manage roaming functionality, and/or perform other types of controlplane processes for managing user plane data. SMF 240 may be accessiblevia an Nsmf interface 242.

AF 250 may provide services associated with a particular application,such as, for example, application influence on traffic routing,accessing NEF 258, interacting with a policy framework for policycontrol, and/or other types of applications. AF 250 may be accessiblevia an Naf interface 262.

UDM 252 may maintain subscription information for UE devices 110, managesubscriptions, generate authentication credentials, handle useridentification, perform access authorization based on subscription data,perform network function registration management, maintain serviceand/or session continuity by maintaining assignment of SMF 240 forongoing sessions, support SMS delivery, support lawful interceptfunctionality, and/or perform other processes associated with managinguser data. UDM 252 may be accessible via a Nudm interface 264.

PCF 254 may support policies to control network behavior, provide policyrules to control plane functions (e.g., to SMF 240), access subscriptioninformation relevant to policy decisions, perform policy decisions,and/or perform other types of processes associated with policyenforcement. PCF 254 may be accessible via Npcf interface 266.

NRF 256 may support a service discovery function and maintain a profileof available network function (NF) instances and their supportedservices. An NF profile may include an NF instance identifier (ID), anNF type, a Public Land Mobile Network identifier (PLMN-ID) associatedwith the NF, a network slice ID associated with the NF, capacityinformation for the NF, service authorization information for the NF,supported services associated with the NF, endpoint information for eachsupported service associated with the NF, and/or other types of NFinformation. NRF 256 may be accessible via an Nnrf interface 268.

NEF 258 may expose capabilities and events to other NFs, includingthird-party NFs, AFs, edge computing NFs, and/or other types of NFs.Furthermore, NEF 258 may secure provisioning of information fromexternal applications to access network 120, translate informationbetween access network 120 and devices/networks external to accessnetwork 120, support a Packet Flow Description (PFD) function, and/orperform other types of network exposure functions. NEF 258 may beaccessible via Nnef interface 270.

NSSF 260 may select a set of network slice instances to serve aparticular UE device 110, determine network slice selection assistanceinformation (NSSAI), determine a particular AMF 220 to serve aparticular UE device 110, and/or perform other types of processesassociated with network slice selection or management. NSSF 260 may beaccessible via Nnssf interface 272. According to an implementationdescribed herein, NSFF 260 may store network slice characteristics,which may be provided (e.g., via AMFs 220) to wireless stations 130 foruse in selecting an alternate network slice 150 during an initialattachment process for UE device 110.

Although FIG. 2 shows exemplary components of core network 215, in otherimplementations, core network 215 may include fewer components,different components, differently arranged components, or additionalcomponents than depicted in FIG. 2. Additionally or alternatively, oneor more components of core network 215 may perform functions describedas being performed by one or more other components of core network 215.For example, core network 215 may include additional function nodes notshown in FIG. 2, such as an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), aNon-3GPP Interworking Function (N3IWF), a Unified Data Repository (UDR),an Unstructured Data Storage Network Function (UDSF), a 5G EquipmentIdentity Register (5G-EIR) function, a Location Management Function(LMF), a Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP) function, and/or othertypes of functions. Furthermore, while particular interfaces have beendescribed with respect to particular function nodes in FIG. 2,additionally or alternatively, core network 215 may include a referencepoint architecture that includes point-to-point interfaces betweenparticular function nodes.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating example components of a device 300according to an implementation described herein. UE device 110, wirelessstation 130, AMF 220, UPF 230, SMF 240, AF 250, UDM 252, PCF 254, NRF256, NEF 258, NSSF 260, and/or other components of access network 120may each include one or more devices 300. In another implementation, adevice 300 may include multiple network functions. As illustrated inFIG. 3, according to an exemplary embodiment, device 300 includes a bus305, a processor 310, a memory/storage 315 that stores software 320, acommunication interface 325, an input 330, and an output 335. Accordingto other embodiments, device 300 may include fewer components,additional components, different components, and/or a differentarrangement of components than those illustrated in FIG. 3 and describedherein.

Bus 305 includes a path that permits communication among the componentsof device 300. For example, bus 305 may include a system bus, an addressbus, a data bus, and/or a control bus. Bus 305 may also include busdrivers, bus arbiters, bus interfaces, and/or clocks.

Processor 310 includes one or multiple processors, microprocessors, dataprocessors, co-processors, application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), controllers, programmable logic devices, chipsets,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specificinstruction-set processors (ASIPs), system-on-chips (SoCs), centralprocessing units (CPUs) (e.g., one or multiple cores), microcontrollers,and/or some other type of component that interprets and/or executesinstructions and/or data. Processor 310 may be implemented as hardware(e.g., a microprocessor, etc.), a combination of hardware and software(e.g., a SoC, an ASIC, etc.), may include one or multiple memories(e.g., cache, etc.), etc. Processor 310 may be a dedicated component ora non-dedicated component (e.g., a shared resource).

Processor 310 may control the overall operation or a portion ofoperation(s) performed by device 300. Processor 310 may perform one ormultiple operations based on an operating system and/or variousapplications or computer programs (e.g., software 320). Processor 310may access instructions from memory/storage 315, from other componentsof device 300, and/or from a source external to device 300 (e.g., anetwork, another device, etc.). Processor 310 may perform an operationand/or a process based on various techniques including, for example,multithreading, parallel processing, pipelining, interleaving, etc.

Memory/storage 315 includes one or multiple memories and/or one ormultiple other types of storage mediums. For example, memory/storage 315may include one or multiple types of memories, such as, random accessmemory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), cache, read onlymemory (ROM), a programmable read only memory (PROM), a static randomaccess memory (SRAM), a single in-line memory module (SIMM), a dualin-line memory module (DIMM), a flash memory (e.g., a NAND flash, a NORflash, etc.), and/or some other type of memory. Memory/storage 315 mayinclude a hard disk (e.g., a magnetic disk, an optical disk, amagneto-optic disk, a solid state disk, etc.), a Micro-ElectromechanicalSystem (MEMS)-based storage medium, and/or a nanotechnology-basedstorage medium. Memory/storage 315 may include a drive for reading fromand writing to the storage medium.

Memory/storage 315 may be external to and/or removable from device 300,such as, for example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory stick, adongle, a hard disk, mass storage, off-line storage, network attachedstorage (NAS), or some other type of storing medium (e.g., a compactdisk (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a Blu-Ray disk (BD), etc.).Memory/storage 315 may store data, software, and/or instructions relatedto the operation of device 300.

Software 320 includes an application or a program that provides afunction and/or a process. Software 320 may include an operating system.Software 320 is also intended to include firmware, middleware,microcode, hardware description language (HDL), and/or other forms ofinstruction. Additionally, for example, UE device 110 and/or wirelessstation 130 may include logic to perform tasks, as described herein,based on software 320.

Communication interface 325 permits device 300 to communicate with otherdevices, networks, systems, devices, and/or the like. Communicationinterface 325 includes one or multiple radio frequency (RF) wirelessinterfaces and/or wired interfaces. For example, communication interface325 may include one or multiple transmitters and receivers, ortransceivers. Communication interface 325 may include one or moreantennas. For example, communication interface 325 may include an arrayof antennas. Communication interface 325 may operate according to aprotocol stack and a communication standard. Communication interface 325may include various processing logic or circuitry (e.g.,multiplexing/de-multiplexing, filtering, amplifying, converting, errorcorrection, etc.).

Input 330 permits an input into device 300. For example, input 330 mayinclude a keyboard, a mouse, a display, a button, a switch, an inputport, speech recognition logic, a biometric mechanism, a microphone, avisual and/or audio capturing device (e.g., a camera, etc.), and/or someother type of visual, auditory, tactile, etc., input component. Output335 permits an output from device 300. For example, output 335 mayinclude a speaker, a display, a light, an output port, and/or some othertype of visual, auditory, tactile, etc., output component. According tosome embodiments, input 330 and/or output 335 may be a device that isattachable to and removable from device 300.

Device 300 may perform a process and/or a function, as described herein,in response to processor 310 executing software 320 stored bymemory/storage 315. By way of example, instructions may be read intomemory/storage 315 from another memory/storage 315 (not shown) or readfrom another device (not shown) via communication interface 325. Theinstructions stored by memory/storage 315 cause processor 310 to performa process described herein. Alternatively, for example, according toother implementations, device 300 performs a process described hereinbased on the execution of hardware (processor 310, etc.).

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process 400 forperforming service aware admission control, according to animplementation described herein. In one implementation, process 400 maybe implemented by wireless station 130. In another implementation,process 400 may be implemented by wireless station 130 in conjunctionwith one or more other devices in network environment 200.

Referring to FIG. 4, process 400 may begin by receiving an RRCconnection request (block 402). For example, wireless station 130 mayreceive an RRC connection request from UE device 110 indicating that UEdevice 110 is attempting to connect to a wireless network, such asaccess network 120. In one implementation, the RRC connection requestmay include a PLMN ID or other identifier associated with UE device 110,RRC establishment cause information, RAT information, and/or additionalinformation.

An initial admission control may be performed based on receiving the RRCconnection request to determine whether UE device 110 will be initiallyadmitted to the network (block 404). For example, wireless station 130may perform an initial admission control procedure based on informationin the RRC establishment cause to determine whether UE device 110 willbe initially accepted to (e.g., permitted to temporarily access) thenetwork. An RRC connection request may be treated differently dependingon the establishment cause associated with the RRC connection request.The establishment cause may provide a general indication of the natureof the RRC connection request. In one implementation, an admission ratemay be higher for a critical IoT device (e.g., an IoT device associatedwith an emergency service) than for a non-critical IoT device (e.g., autility meter).

In one implementation, the initial admission control processing may bebased on a RAN load and SON inputs. A SON may include an automatedsystem that configures, manages, optimizes, and heals or modifies mobileRANs quickly and dynamically. The initial admission control may furtherbe based on a current number of RRC connections at a cell site and anumber of devices that may be accepted to the cell site. The initialadmission control may further be based on a dynamic load at a RAN siteand a projected load at the RAN site based on historic load data (basedon, for example, the SON inputs).

If wireless station 130 determines that UE device 110 is not to beadmitted to the network (block 404—no), UE device 110 may be rejectedand an extended waiting time for attempting to admit UE device 110 maybe applied (block 406). For example, if the network is congested or ifthe projected load/congestion on the network is too high, the RRCconnection request may be denied and the extended waiting time may beapplied. The extended waiting time may be a random time and a differentextended waiting time may be applied to different UE devices 110. Forexample, a wait time for a critical IoT device may be shorter than thewait time for a non-critical IoT device. After the extended waiting timehas elapsed, UE device 110 may send an additional RRC connection requestto wireless station 130 (block 402).

If UE device 110 passes the initial admission control (block 404—yes),an RRC connection setup may be performed (block 408). When the RRC setupis complete, wireless station 130 may receive slice informationindicating a slice 150 associated with UE device 110 (block 410). Forexample, UE device 110 may send wireless station 130 an indication thatthe RRC setup is complete and may further transmit a message to wirelessstation 130 indicating the slice 150 or QoS flow associated with UEdevice 110.

Wireless station 130 may receive the network slice information anddetermine whether to admit UE device 110 to the network based on theslice information (block 412). In one implementation, wireless station130 may perform a second admission control procedure based on the slice150 or QoS flow. For example, the slice 150 or QoS flow associated withUE device 110 may be identified by receiving the NSSAI, PLMN ID, SPID,RRC establishment cause, QCI, 5QI, a UE subscriber identifier, and/oradditional parameters associated with UE device 110. In oneimplementation, the second admission control procedure may be performedbased on a combination of the slice 150 or QoS flow associated with UEdevice 110 and an identifier associated with UE device 110.

In one implementation, a determination of whether to admit UE device 110to the network may be based on the number of UE devices 110 connected tothe network, a number of RRC connections, and/or data radio bearers(DRBs) per slice 150 or QoS flow. The number of RRC connections or DRBsmay be restricted and may differ per slice 150 or QoS flow. For example,the maximum number of UE devices 110 or RRC connections may be differentfor short burst traffic, massive IoT traffic, critical IoT traffic, orother traffic. In addition, a determination of whether to admit UEdevice 110 to the network may be based on a service type associated withUE device 110. For example, a critical IoT device requesting criticalservices (e.g., emergency services) may have a higher admission ratethan a non-critical IoT device.

In one implementation, when performing the second admission control,wireless station 130 may check the resources assigned to the slice 150or QoS flow associated with UE device 110 and a number of UE devices inthe network. A number of connected UE devices 110 or a number of RRCconnections may be restricted based on a maximum number of UE devices110 or RRC connections in the slice 150 or QoS flow as well as themaximum number of UE devices 110 or RRC connections in the network. Adetermination of whether to admit UE device 110 to the network may bebased on a combination of resources available to slice 150 and resourcesavailable to the network.

In another implementation, a determination whether to admit UE device110 to the network may be made based on a data demand from UE device 110and a load factor associated with the network. For example, a NetworkData Analytics Function (NWDAF) may perform an end-to-end latencyanalysis on the network and may determine whether to admit UE device 110to the network based on the latency and the services required by UEdevice 110. Different services may have different latency requirements.For example, if the network is experiencing high latency and UE device110 is requesting services with low latency requirements, UE device 110may not be accepted to the network. However, if the network isexperiencing a low latency, UE device 110 may be admitted to thenetwork. In another example, if the NWDAF analysis indicates that thenetwork is experiencing high delays, a critical IoT device may beadmitted to the network and a non-critical IoT device may not beadmitted to the network.

In another implementation, a determination whether to admit UE device110 to the network may be based on access barring and access barringthresholds. Access barring thresholds may be based on network loadlevels and excessive network failures. Network load levels may be basedon noise floor on the uplink, radio resource utilization on the userplane, Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization, control plane PhysicalDownlink Control Channel (PDCCH) utilization, and/or additional factors.Excessive network failures may include repeated access requests, RandomAccess Channel (RACH) failures, excessive repetitions, and/or additionalfailures.

The load threshold for barring may be different for different accesstechnologies and services. For example, the load threshold for barringmay be different for critical IoT versus massive IoT. Additionally, arandom barring probability for UE device 110 may be based on slice 150or QoS flow associated with UE device 110. For example, a random barringprobability may be 0 for critical IoT, 1 for massive IoT, and 0.5 foreMBB.

Referring back to FIG. 4, if wireless station 130 determines that UEdevice 110 is not to be admitted to the network (block 412—no), UEdevice 110 may be rejected and an extended waiting time for attemptingto admit UE device 110 may be applied to UE device 110 (block 406). Arange of the extended waiting time may be defined based on slice 150 orQoS flow associated with UE device 110. In one implementation, theextended waiting time may be defined as:Extended Waiting Time=Minimal_sl+Range_sl×RandomGenerator[0,1]<Maximum_sl,where Minimal_sl is the minimum waiting extended waiting time for slice150 or QoS flow, Range_sl is a range of extended waiting times for slice150 or QoS flow, Random Generator is a random number between 0 and 1,and Maximum_sl is a maximum waiting time for slice 150 or QoS flow.

In one implementation, the wait time for a critical IoT device may beshorter than a wait time for a non-critical IoT device. For example, acritical IoT device may wait the minimum amount of time (which, in oneimplementation, may be no time) before attempting to connect to thenetwork again. A non-critical IoT device, such as a utility meter, maywait up to the maximum waiting time associated with slice 150 or QoSflow before being permitted to attempt to connect to the network. Therandom number generator may be implemented to ensure that large numbersof IoT devices are not reattempting to connect to the network at thesame time. By randomly assigning wait times to UE devices 110 (i.e.,non-critical IoT devices), any reattempts to connect to the network maybe spread out over a larger period of time. After the extended waitingtime has elapsed, UE device 110 may send an additional RRC connectionrequest to wireless station 130 (block 402).

If wireless station 130 determines that UE device 110 may connect to thenetwork (block 412—yes), UE device 110 may connect to the network andresources may be allocated to UE device 110 (block 414).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating exemplary communications for anadmission control process by wireless station 130 based on a slice 150associated with UE device 110. Network portion 500 may include UE device110, wireless station 130, and AMF 220. Communications shown in FIG. 5provide simplified illustrations of communications in network portion500 and are not intended to reflect every signal or communicationexchanged between devices.

Referring to FIG. 5, UE device 110 may send an RRC connection request towireless station 130 requesting access to a wireless network (502).Wireless network 130 may perform an initial admission control on UEdevice 110 (504). For example, wireless station 130 may determinewhether to temporarily admit UE device 110 to the wireless network basedon a plurality of factors, such as network load, a priority associatedwith UE device 110, services required by UE device 110, and/oradditional factors.

If UE device 110 is initially/temporarily admitted to the wirelessnetwork, wireless station 130 may send UE device 110 a messageindicating that UE device 110 has been temporarily accepted into thenetwork and RRC setup is to be performed (506). UE device 110 mayperform the RRC setup and transmit a message to wireless station 130indicating that RRC setup is complete (508). The message may furtherindicate the slice 150 associated with UE device 110. For example, UEdevice 110 may transmit wireless station 130 a non-access stratum (NAS)message indicating that the RRC setup is complete and a NSSAI associatedwith UE device 110.

Wireless station 130 may forward the slice information to AMF 220 (510)and AMF 220 may establish a PDU session based on the received networkslice information. AMF 220 may send wireless station 130 a messageindicating that the PDU session has been established (512). For example,AMF 220 may send a NGAP message to wireless station 130 indicating thatthe initial context setup and bearer activation has been completed.

Wireless station 130 may perform a second admission control using thenetwork slice information associated with UE device 110 (514). In oneimplementation, as discussed above with respect to FIG. 4, wirelessstation 130 may determine whether to admit UE device 110 to the networkbased on a slice quota for RRC connected users. For example, UE device110 may be admitted to the network if a number of UE devices 110associated with slice 150 is not at a maximum level for slice 150.Different slices 150 or QoS flows may have different quotas for RRCconnected users. In another implementation, wireless station 130 maydetermine whether to admit UE device 110 to the wireless network basedon resources required by UE device 110, resources assigned to slice 150,and/or a number of RRC connections in the network. In anotherimplementation, a determination may be made whether to accept UE device110 to the network based on an end-to-end latency associated with thenetwork and services required by UE device 110. In anotherimplementation, a determination may be made to admit UE device 110 basedon a service required by UE device 110 and a priority associated with UEdevice 110. For example, a critical IoT device may be admitted before amassive IoT device. In another implementation, a determination may bemade to admit UE device 110 to the network based on an access barringthreshold and/or random barring probability associated with UE device110 or slice 150.

When UE device 110 is admitted to the network, wireless network 130 maytransmit a message to UE device 110 indicating that UE device 110 hasestablished a connection with the network (516). In one implementation,the message may include an indication that RRC connectionreconfiguration may be performed to setup the bearer. In addition,resources may be allocated to UE device 110 for the services requestedby UE device 110.

As set forth in this description and illustrated by the drawings,reference is made to “an exemplary embodiment,” “an embodiment,”“embodiments,” etc., which may include a particular feature, structureor characteristic in connection with an embodiment(s). However, the useof the phrase or term “an embodiment,” “embodiments,” etc., in variousplaces in the specification does not necessarily refer to allembodiments described, nor does it necessarily refer to the sameembodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarilymutually exclusive of other embodiment(s). The same applies to the term“implementation,” “implementations,” etc.

The foregoing description of embodiments provides illustration, but isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the preciseform disclosed. Accordingly, modifications to the embodiments describedherein may be possible. For example, various modifications and changesmay be made thereto, and additional embodiments may be implemented,without departing from the broader scope of the invention as set forthin the claims that follow. The description and drawings are accordinglyto be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

The terms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to be interpreted to includeone or more items. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to beinterpreted as “based, at least in part, on,” unless explicitly statedotherwise. The term “and/or” is intended to be interpreted to includeany and all combinations of one or more of the associated items. Theword “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example.” Anyembodiment or implementation described as “exemplary” is not necessarilyto be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments orimplementations.

In addition, while series of blocks have been described with regard tothe processes illustrated in FIG. 4 and signal flows with respect toFIG. 5, the order of the blocks and signal flows may be modifiedaccording to other embodiments. Further, non-dependent blocks may beperformed in parallel. Additionally, other processes described in thisdescription may be modified and/or non-dependent operations may beperformed in parallel.

Embodiments described herein may be implemented in many different formsof software executed by hardware. For example, a process or a functionmay be implemented as “logic,” a “component,” or an “element.” Thelogic, the component, or the element, may include, for example, hardware(e.g., processor 310, etc.), or a combination of hardware and software(e.g., software 320).

Embodiments have been described without reference to the specificsoftware code because the software code can be designed to implement theembodiments based on the description herein and commercially availablesoftware design environments and/or languages. For example, varioustypes of programming languages including, for example, a compiledlanguage, an interpreted language, a declarative language, or aprocedural language may be implemented.

Use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in theclaims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote anypriority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another, thetemporal order in which acts of a method are performed, the temporalorder in which instructions executed by a device are performed, etc.,but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having acertain name from another element having a same name (but for use of theordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements.

Additionally, embodiments described herein may be implemented as anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores data and/orinformation, such as instructions, program code, a data structure, aprogram module, an application, a script, or other known or conventionalform suitable for use in a computing environment. The program code,instructions, application, etc., is readable and executable by aprocessor (e.g., processor 310) of a device. A non-transitory storagemedium includes one or more of the storage mediums described in relationto memory/storage 315.

To the extent the aforementioned embodiments collect, store or employpersonal information of individuals, it should be understood that suchinformation shall be collected, stored and used in accordance with allapplicable laws concerning protection of personal information.Additionally, the collection, storage and use of such information may besubject to consent of the individual to such activity, for example,through well known “opt-in” or “opt-out” processes as may be appropriatefor the situation and type of information. Storage and use of personalinformation may be in an appropriately secure manner reflective of thetype of information, for example, through various encryption andanonymization techniques for particularly sensitive information.

No element, act, or instruction set forth in this description should beconstrued as critical or essential to the embodiments described hereinunless explicitly indicated as such.

All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the variousaspects set forth in this disclosure that are known or later come to beknown to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporatedherein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Noclaim element of a claim is to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f)unless the claim element expressly includes the phrase “means for” or“step for.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, from a userequipment device and by a network device, a request to connect to anetwork; performing, by the network device, a first admission controlprocedure to determine whether to temporarily allow the user equipmentdevice to connect to the network; receiving, by the network device,information identifying a slice associated with the user equipmentdevice in response to determining to temporarily allow the userequipment device to connect to the network; performing, by the networkdevice, a second admission control procedure to determine whether toallow the user equipment device to connect to the network, wherein thesecond admission control procedure is based on the slice associated withthe user equipment device; and allocating, by the network device,network resources to the user equipment device in response todetermining to allow the user equipment device to connect to thenetwork.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the secondadmission control procedure includes performing the second admissioncontrol procedure based on a current number of radio resource control(RRC) connections associated with the slice and a maximum number of RRCconnections allowed for the slice.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinperforming the second admission control procedure includes performingthe second admission control procedure based on an access barringthreshold, and wherein the access barring threshold is based on theslice.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the second admissioncontrol procedure includes performing the second admission controlprocedure based on an end-to-end latency associated with the network. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein performing the first admission controlprocedure includes performing the first admission control procedurebased on a number of user devices connected to the network and aprojected congestion level associated with the network.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: applying a waiting time for reattempting toconnect to the network in response to determining not to allow the userequipment device to connect to the network based on performing thesecond admission control procedure, wherein a length of the waiting timeis based on the slice.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the informationidentifying a slice includes network slice selection assistanceinformation (NSSAI).
 8. A network device comprising: one or moreprocessors configured to: receive, from a user equipment device, arequest to connect to a network; perform a first admission controlprocedure to determine whether to temporarily allow the user equipmentdevice to connect to the network; receive information identifying aslice associated with the user equipment device in response todetermining to temporarily allow the user equipment device to connect tothe network; perform a second admission control procedure to determinewhether to allow the user equipment device to connect to the network,wherein the second admission control procedure is based on the sliceassociated with the user equipment device; and allocate networkresources to the user equipment device in response to determining toallow the user equipment device to connect to the network.
 9. Thenetwork device of claim 8, wherein, when performing the second admissioncontrol procedure, the one or more processors are further configured to:perform the second admission control procedure based on a current numberof radio resource control (RRC) connections associated with the sliceand a maximum number of RRC connections allowed for the slice.
 10. Thenetwork device of claim 8, wherein, when performing the second admissioncontrol procedure, the one or more processors are further configured to:perform the second admission control procedure based on an accessbarring threshold, and wherein the access barring threshold is based onthe slice.
 11. The network device of claim 8, wherein, when performingthe second admission control procedure, the one or more processors arefurther configured to: perform the second admission control procedurebased on an end-to-end latency associated with the network.
 12. Thenetwork device of claim 8, wherein, when performing the first admissioncontrol procedure, the one or more processors are further configured to:perform the first admission control procedure based on a number of userdevices connected to the network and a projected congestion levelassociated with the network.
 13. The network device of claim 8, whereinthe one or more processors are further configured to: apply a waitingtime for reattempting to connect to the network in response todetermining not to allow the user equipment device to connect to thenetwork based on the second admission control procedure, wherein alength of the waiting time is based on the slice.
 14. The network deviceof claim 8, wherein the information identifying a slice includes networkslice selection assistance information (NSSAI).
 15. A non-transitory,computer-readable storage media storing instructions executable by oneor more processors of one or more devices, which when executed cause theone or more devices to: receive, from a user equipment device, a requestto connect to a network; perform a first admission control procedure todetermine whether to temporarily allow the user equipment device toconnect to the network; receive information identifying a sliceassociated with the user equipment device in response to determining totemporarily allow the user equipment device to connect to the network;perform a second admission control procedure to determine whether toallow the user equipment device to connect to the network, wherein thesecond admission control procedure is based on the slice associated withthe user equipment device; and allocate network resources to the userequipment device in response to determining to allow the user equipmentdevice to connect to the network.
 16. The non-transitory,computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein the instructions toperform the second admission control procedure further compriseinstructions to: perform the second admission control procedure based ona current number of radio resource control (RRC) connections associatedwith the slice and a maximum number of RRC connections allowed for theslice.
 17. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage media of claim15, wherein the instructions to perform the second admission controlprocedure further comprise instructions to: perform the second admissioncontrol procedure based on an access barring threshold, and wherein theaccess barring threshold is based on the slice.
 18. The non-transitory,computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein the instructions toperform the second admission control procedure further compriseinstructions to: perform the second admission control procedure based onan end-to-end latency associated with the network.
 19. Thenon-transitory, computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein theinstructions to perform the first admission control procedure furthercomprise instructions to: perform the first admission control procedurebased on a number of user devices connected to the network and aprojected congestion level associated with the network.
 20. Thenon-transitory, computer-readable storage media of claim 15, furthercomprising instructions to: apply a waiting time for reattempting toconnect to the network in response to determining not to allow the userequipment device to connect to the network based on the second admissioncontrol procedure, wherein a length of the waiting time is based on theslice.